Friday, March 25, 2011

So I imagine some of you have, at some point, mentioned my series to someone and they go, "Who?" and have no idea what you are talking about. Well, now is a great time to tell them that they can check out my first book for FREE! Completely, totally FREE! From April 5th to April 18th your, your mom, your neighbor, that creepy guy down the street, anyone can download Wings for free. And just in case you forget, you can pre-order now from Amazon and the book will be sent to your Kindle when April 5th rolls around! However . . .

If you want to wait till May 8th, and get a comfy chair to boot, you can take your Nook into any Barnes and Noble in the country and download the free ebook onto your Nook and it will come with an exclusive short story that you won't find anywhere else. (I will post it on my blog and website at some point, but at least for now, it will be exclusively available at B&N.) Don't have a Nook or a B&N nearby? Never fear!

All of the ebooks will come with an excerpt from both Spells and Illusions, so you will still get a taste of what's to come! Want more?

Five bloggers will be participating in a read-along contest that starts on April 5th. (I'll have more details as we get closer.) It is a contest to see how many readers they can get to download the ebook from their blog and read along with them! The winning website gets exclusive access to a short story that comes between Spells and Illusions that features our favorite hot faerie guy himself, Tamani! So that should be tons of fun!

FREE BOOK FREE BOOK FREE BOOK.:D

Okay, so we are still working on all the dates, but I want to let you know where I will be this summer! In May I will be going to:

Scottsdale, AZ

Tempe, AZ

Pasadena, CA

Idaho Falls, ID

Salt Lake City, UT

Driggs, ID

and Boise, ID

In June, between my own travels and the Dark Days of Supernatural, I will be going to:

Provo, UT

Chicago, IL

Portland, OR

Austin, TX

Phoenix, AZ

Lansing, MI

At some point in the next six months I will also be coming to:

New York, NY

Eureka, CA

Whew! It is going to be fun and awesome!! I will have the full schedule up soon with dates and times, etc. but hopefully I am coming to your neck of the woods at some point. If not, I will almost certainly be traveling next summer as well! However, if you live somewhere obscure where authors never seem to travel . . .

You can still get a signed book!! I've teamed up with the awesome Changing Hands Bookstore here in Arizona to allow you guys to order signed (personalized too!) books online. The link to my books is here and all you need to do is put in the comments that you would like it signed and PLEASE specify the exact name you would like on the book.

Already have the books? I am working on getting books plates and an address where you can send a SASE to get them, but I am between PO Boxes right now, so it's not ready. But it will be! Soon!

Okay . . . so I think that's it. Lots of fun stuff and you are basically going to see my Twitter catch fire over the next few weeks as we gear up for the release of not only ILLUSIONS, but the newly redesigned paperbacks for the rest of the series as well! There will be lots of bonus content and free stuff and web pages, etc! I love it when April comes along because that is when all the release date fun really starts!

And, of course, I know why you read down this far, so here comes the next excerpt from Illusions! (And for those of you who have been asking, I will be posting the second chapter of Illusions next week . . . probably April 1st!:))

Tamani came running in and slid into his seat just as the final bell rang. He was wearing a pair of black leather gloves with the fingers all cut off at the first knuckle.

“What are those?” Laurel said, wrinkling her nose. “Fingerless gloves went out of style before . . . mullets. You look like a dork.”

“Better a dork than a freak with glitter coming out of his hands,” Tamani hissed darkly. “As far as these kids know, they’re all the rage in Scotland.”

Laurel felt bad for not realizing; after all, it was being around her blossom that brought pollen to his hands. “Oh. What are you doing with Yuki? I thought you were supposed to be getting us together, not hooking up with her,” she whispered as Mrs. Harms called attendance.

“I am not ‘hooking up’ with her,” Tamani hissed.

“Could have fooled me,” Laurel muttered.

Tamani shrugged. “I have a job to do here,” he whispered. “I do what it takes.”

Monday, March 21, 2011

A VERY fast update to let you know that the winner of The Vespertine and Faerie Winter is GUPPY of Small Fish in a Big Ocean! Guppy, please send me your real name (er . . . unless it IS Guppy :D) and your address to aprilynne pike at gee mail dot com and I will get those right out to you!

Much, much more to come this week including how you can get Wings for FREE, where I will be this summer, a new excerpt from Illusions, and how you can order signed books no matter where you live! All this week! (Just not tonight *yawn*:D)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I am always being asked for recommendations for books that I really like and I always kind of stammer and go, "Uuummm," not because I don't have recommendations, but because I have a hard time narrowing them down. In the past I have touted books like Mistwood by Leah Cypess, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, to name only a very, very few. But this season the two books I am recommending to everyone are The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell and Faerie Winter by Janni Lee Simner. And what better way to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak, than to have a giveaway! (And really, who doesn't like free stuff?)

Okay, so The Vespertine. Seriously, how can you not adore this cover!?!?!? I got to read The Vespertine quite early and have been waiting and waiting for it to finally come out! It is a really wonderful historical with beautiful ballgowns, hot guys, stiff corsets, and awesome magic to boot! And one of my very favorite opening lines.

"I returned to Oakhaven entirely ruined."

I mean really, how can you not want to read the next line? Anyway, I love this book and can recommend it to readers of all ages about ten and up.:D

I have a hardcover of this book up for grabs, and it came out last week, so if you don't win it, you can find it at a bookstore near you!

The next book that I am raving about is Faerie Winter by Janni Lee Simner. Some of you may remember how much I raved about Janni's first book, Bones of Faerie, which came out in early 2009. I was in a funk for days after I read it because--although I probably should not admit this publicly--it's so much better than my book.:D Faerie Winter is the sequel and picks up right where Bones of Faerie left off with all of the characters that I didn't want to let go of. I don't want to synopsize too much because it is a sequel, but killer plants, devious fae, eternal winter . . . people, it is just amazing!!!

And still cooler, even though it doesn't actually come out until April 7th, I have a signed copy that I got directly from Janni (why yes, I really am just that cool.:D) that I will send out early!

So two of my very, very favorite books of this year up for grabs! And all you have to do is return the favor. Tell me YOUR favorite read so far this year and I'll pick one at random and send you both of my favorites!:D

This contest is open until Sunday night at midnight and I will send them out as soon as I get the winner's info.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

I meant to get this up last weekend, but the time totally got away from me!

Harper is going to start teasing the first parts of ILLUSIONS soon and so they gave me permission to share it here on my blog first!

But before I share, a quick question: I am planning my appearances for this summer and am trying to decide between Twin Falls, Idaho and Boise, Idaho. What do you vote? Because, literally, I am going to pick the location that gets the most votes.:D

And how about Las Vegas? Would anyone come see me if I did a stop in Vegas? Please comment and let me know! I would REALLY appreciate it!

And just one more thing: I will be at the Tucson Book Festival this weekend and have two panels and a reading/signing on Sunday, March 13th. Click on my name here and you will find my schedule, locations, etc. At the "Solo Presentation" I will be reading chapters one and probably two and there is signing time after both panels and the reading if you want to get a book(s) signed. I will also have signed Dark Days bookmarks and swag! *shameless bribery*

And without further ado, Chapter One! (I will post Chapter Two next month!:D) (Also, a quick note, this is my non-copy-edited version. There may be slight changes in the final copy. But we're talking slight, slight, slight.:D)

Chapter One

The halls of Del Norte High buzzed with first-day-of-school chaos as Laurel wedged herself through a crowd of sophomores and spotted David’s broad shoulders. She twined her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his soft T-shirt.

“Hey,” David said, returning her embrace. Laurel had just closed her eyes, prepared to savor the moment, when Chelsea caught them both in an exuberant squeeze.

“Can you believe it? We’re finally seniors!”

Laurel laughed as Chelsea let them go. Coming from her, the question wasn’t exactly rhetorical; there had been times Laurel doubted they’d make it through junior year alive.

As David turned to his locker, Chelsea produced Mrs. Cain’s summer reading list from her backpack. Laurel suppressed a smile; Chelsea had been fretting over the optional books all summer. Probably longer.

“I’m starting to think everyone read Pride and Prejudice,” she said, tilting the paper toward Laurel, “I knew I should have gone with Persuasion.”

“I didn’t read Pride and Prejudice,” Laurel countered.

“Yeah, well, you were a little busy reading Common Uses of Ferns or something like that.” Chelsea leaned in so she could whisper. “Or, Seven Habits of Highly Effective Mixers,” she added with a snort of laughter.

“How to Win Fronds and Influence Poplars,” David suggested, raising his eyebrows. He straightened abruptly, his smile widening and his voice getting just a touch louder. “Hey, Ryan,” he said, extending a fist.

Ryan bumped him and turned to run his hands down Chelsea’s arms. “How’s the hottest senior at Del Norte?” he asked, making Chelsea giggle as she went onto her toes for a kiss.

Sighing contentedly, Laurel reached out for David’s hand and leaned against him. She’d only been back from the Academy in Avalon for a week, and she’d missed her friends—more even than last year, though her instructor, Yeardley, had usually kept her too busy to dwell on that. She’d mastered several potions and was closing in on more. The mixings were coming more naturally, too; she was getting a feel for different herbs and essences and how they should work together. Certainly not enough to strike out on her own, like her friend Katya, who was researching new potions, but Laurel took pride in her progress.

Still, it was a relief to be back in Crescent City, where everything was normal and she didn’t feel so lonely. She smiled up at David as he swung his locker shut and pulled her close. It seemed monumentally unfair that she and David only had one class together this year, and despite having spent the past week with him, Laurel found herself clinging to these last few minutes before the bell rang and their class schedules took them away from each other.

She almost didn’t notice the strange tingle that made her want to turn and look behind her.

Was she being watched?

More curious than afraid, Laurel disguised the glance over her shoulder as a toss of her long blonde hair. But her watcher was immediately apparent and Laurel’s breath caught in her throat as her gaze locked with a pair of pale green eyes.

Those eyes weren’t supposed to be light green. They were supposed to be the rich, emerald green that once matched his hair—hair that was now a uniform black, cut short and gelled into a deceptively casual mop. Instead of a hand-woven tunic and breeches, he was dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt that, no matter how good they looked on him, had to be terribly stifling.

And he was wearing shoes. She’d hardly ever seen Tamani wearing shoes.

But light or dark, she knew his eyes—eyes that featured prominently in her dreams, as familiar to her as her own, or her parents’. Or David’s.

The moment their eyes locked, the months since she’d last seen Tamani shrank from an eternity to an instant. Last winter, in a moment of anger, she’d told him to go away, and he had. She hadn’t known where, or for how long, or if she’d ever see him again. But she’d chosen David, one hundred percent, and though she hadn’t meant to exile Tamani from her life—he was her friend, after all—she had to admit his absence simplified that choice. And after nearly a year she had almost gotten used to the ache she felt in her chest every time she thought about him. But suddenly he was here, almost close enough to touch.

Laurel looked up at David, but he wasn’t looking at her. He, too, had noticed Tamani.

Laurel still couldn’t speak as Tamani’s gaze flitted from her, to David, then back again. A million thoughts spun through her head. Why is he here? Why is he dressed like that? Why didn’t he tell me he was coming? She hardly felt David pry her hands from his shirt, lacing his warm fingers through her own, which were suddenly cold as ice.

Mr. Robison said something to the three students who were following him through the hallway, and Tamani’s head swung so that even his profile was no longer visible. As if released from a spell, Laurel dropped her gaze to the floor.

David squeezed her hand and she looked up at him. “Is that who I think it is?”

Laurel nodded, unable to find her voice; though David and Tamani had only met twice before, both events had been . . . memorable. She kept a firm grip on David’s hand. When David looked back toward Tamani, so did Laurel.

The other boy in the group looked embarrassed and the girl was explaining something to him in a language that was clearly not English. Mr. Robison nodded approvingly.

Tamani was shifting the weight of a black backpack from shoulder to shoulder, looking bored. Looking human. That by itself was almost as jarring as his being here in the first place. And then he was looking at her again, less openly now, his glance veiled beneath dark eyelashes.

Laurel fought to breathe evenly. She didn’t know what to think. Avalon wouldn’t send him here without reason and Laurel couldn’t imagine Tamani abandoning his post.

Before she could stop herself, Laurel flicked her eyes in Tamani’s direction—a move Chelsea tracked instantly. There was no point in lying—this was way bigger than anything she could ever hide, especially from Chelsea. “It’s Tamani,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as relieved—or as terrified—as she felt.

She must have succeeded, because Chelsea only stared in disbelief. “The hot one?” she whispered.

Laurel nodded.

“Seriously?” Chelsea squealed, only to be cut off by a sharp gesture from Laurel. Laurel looked immediately over at Tamani to see if she’d been caught. The tick of a smile at one corner of his mouth told her she had.

Then the foreign exchange students were following Mr. Robison down the hallway, away from Laurel. Just before Tamani disappeared around the corner, he looked back at Laurel and winked. Not for the first time, she was supremely grateful she couldn’t blush.

She turned to David. He was staring down at her, his eyes full of questions.

Laurel sighed and held her hands up in front of her. “I had nothing to do with this.”

***

“This is a good thing, right?” David said after they’d managed to detangle themselves from Chelsea and Ryan. They stood together in front of Laurel’s first class. Laurel couldn’t remember the last time the one-minute warning bell had made her feel so anxious. “I mean, you thought you were never going to see him again, and now he’s here.”

“It is good to see him,” Laurel said softly, leaning forward to wrap both arms around David’s waist, “but I’m also scared of what it means. For us. Not us,” Laurel corrected, fighting the unfamiliar awkwardness that seemed to be worming its way between them. “I mean, it has to mean we’re in danger, right?”

David nodded. “I’m trying not to think about that. He’ll tell us eventually, right?”

Laurel looked up with one eyebrow cocked and after a moment they both burst out laughing.

“I guess we can’t count on it, can we?” David took her right hand in his, pressing it to his lips and examining the silver-and-crystal bracelet he had given her almost two years ago, when they first got together. “I’m glad you still wear this.”

“Every day,” Laurel said. Wishing they had more time to talk, she pulled David close for one last kiss before hurrying into her Government class and grabbing the last seat next to the wall full of windows. Small windows, but she would take whatever natural sunlight she could get.

Her mind wandered as Mrs. Harms handed out the syllabus and talked about class requirements; it was easy to tune her out, especially in light of Tamani’s sudden reappearance. Why was he here? If she was in some kind of danger, what could it be? She hadn’t seen a single troll since leaving Barnes at the lighthouse. Could this have something to do with Klea, the mysterious troll-hunter who killed him? No one had seen her lately, either; as far as Laurel could tell, Klea had moved on to other hunting grounds. Maybe this was some other crisis entirely?

Regardless, David was right—Laurel was happy to see Tamani. More than happy, even. She felt somehow comforted by his presence. And he had winked at her! As though the last eight months had never happened. As if he had never walked away. As if she had never come to tell him goodbye. Her thoughts drifted to the brief moments spent in his arms, the soft feel of his lips on hers in those few times when self-control had slipped through her fingers. The memories were so vivid that Laurel found herself lightly touching her lips,

The classroom door swung open suddenly, startling Laurel from her thoughts. Mr. Robison entered, Tamani following close behind.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Mr. Robison said. “Boys and girls?” Laurel hated how adults could combine two perfectly serviceable words into such a condescending phrase. “You might have heard that we have some foreign exchange students from Japan this year. Tam,” Laurel blanched at the counselor’s use of her pet name for Tamani, “isn’t technically in the foreign exchange program, but he just moved here from Scotland. I hope you will treat him with the same courtesy you have always shown our other exchange guests. Tam? Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself.”

Mr. Robison clapped one hand against Tamani’s shoulder. Tamani’s eyes darted briefly to the school counselor and Laurel could only imagine how Tamani would have preferred to respond. But irritation showed on his face for less than a second, and Laurel doubted anyone else noticed. He grinned lopsidedly and shrugged. “I’m Tam Collins.”

Half the girls in the class sighed softly at Tamani’s lilting brogue.

“I’m from Scotland.A little outside of Perth—not the Australia one—and . . .” he paused, as if searching for anything else about himself that the students might find interesting.

Laurel could think of a few things.

“And I live with my uncle. Have since I was a kid.” He turned and smiled at the teacher. “And I know nothing about Government,” he said, laughter in his voice. “Not this one, anyway.”

The entire classroom was won over. The guys were nodding their heads a little, the girls were twittering, and even Mrs. Harms was smiling. And he wasn’t even Enticing them. Laurel almost groaned aloud at the trouble that could lead to.

There were three empty seats in the classroom and almost everyone near them launched into a silent campaign for Tamani’s favor. Nadia, one of the prettier girls in the class, was the boldest. She uncrossed and re-crossed her legs, tossed her wavy brown hair over her shoulder, and leaned forward to not-so-subtly pat the backrest of the seat in front of her. Tamani grinned, almost apologetically, and continued past her to claim a seat in front of a girl who had scarcely looked up from her book since he’d walked into the classroom.

The seat beside Laurel.

As Mrs. Harms droned on about daily reading assignments, Laurel sat back and stared at Tamani. She didn’t bother to hide it; just about every other girl in the classroom was doing the exact same thing. It was maddening to dumbly sit just two feet away while a million questions whizzed through her mind. Some were rational questions. Many were not.

Laurel’s head was spinning by the time the bell rang. This was her chance. She wanted to do so many things: yell at him, slap him, kiss him, grab his shoulders and shake him. But more than anything else, she wanted to wrap her arms around him. To hold herself to his chest and confess how much she’d missed him. She could do that with a friend, couldn’t she?

But then, wasn’t that why she’d gotten angry enough to send him away in the first place? For Tamani, it was never just a friendly hug. He always wanted more. And as flattering as his persistence—and passion—could be, the way he treated David as an enemy to be crushed was less endearing. It had broken her heart to send Tamani away and Laurel wasn’t sure she could go through that again.

She stood slowly looked at him, her mouth dry. As soon as his backpack was slung over one strong shoulder, he turned and met her eyes. Laurel opened her mouth to say something when he grinned and reached out his hand.

Their clasped hands were moving up and down, but it was all Tamani’s doing; Laurel’s arm had gone limp. She stood silently for several seconds until Tamani’s meaningful look intensified and became almost a glare. “Oh!” she said belatedly, “I’m Laurel. Laurel Sewell. Pleasure.” Pleasure? Since when did she say pleasure? And why was he shaking her hand like a stodgy salesperson?

Tamani pulled a class schedule from his back pocket. “I have English next, with Mrs. Cain. Would you mind showing me where the classroom is?”

Was the feeling that rushed over her relief that they didn’t share their second hour class, or disappointment? “Sure,” she said cheerily. “It’s just down the hall.” Laurel gathered her things slowly, stalling while the classroom emptied. Then she leaned close to Tamani. “What are you doing here?”

“Are you glad to see me?”

She nodded, letting herself smile.

He grinned back, unconcealed relief brightening his expression. It made Laurel feel on more even ground to know he had been unsure, too.

“Why—”

Tamani shook his head slightly and gestured toward the hall. When she was almost at the door Tamani took hold of her elbow and stopped her. “Meet me in the woods behind your house after school?” he asked softly. “I’ll explain everything.” He paused and, with an unnatural quickness, lifted one hand to stroke her cheek. The feeling scarcely had time to register before his hands were back in his pockets and he was strolling out the door.

“Tama—Tam?” she called, trotting to catch up with him. “I’ll show you where to go.”

He grinned and laughed. “Come now,” he said almost too quietly for her to hear. “How unprepared do you think I am? I know this school better than you do.” And with a wink, he was gone.

***

“Homigosh!” Chelsea squealed, assaulting Laurel from behind and practically yanking her fingers from David’s grasp. She put her face right in front of Laurel’s. “Faerie boy is totally in my English class! Hurry before Ryan gets here—you have to spill!”

“Ssh!” Laurel said, glancing around her. But no one was listening.

“He’s really hot,” she said. “The girls were all watching him. Oh, and the Japanese guy is in my Calculus class even though he’s only fifteen. When do you think American schools will get the memo that there’s a global economy out there?” she demanded. Then she paused and her eyes widened. “Man, I hope he doesn’t blow the curve.”

David rolled his eyes, but it was with a grin. “That’s what everyone else is thinking about you,” he said.

“We’ll see,” Laurel said, turning her around by her shoulders and pushing her in Ryan’s direction. “Go!” Chelsea turned and stuck her tongue out at Laurel before ducking under her boyfriend’s arm.

Laurel shook her head and turned to David. “One class together is not enough,” she said in a mock-stern voice. “Whose idea was this, anyway?”

“Not mine, that’s for sure,” David said.They went into the classroom and claimed a couple of desks near the back.

After everything else that had happened that day, Laurel shouldn’t have been surprised to see Tamani walk into her and David’s Speech class. When he entered David tensed, but he relaxed when Laurel’s erstwhile guardian chose a desk at the front of the room, several rows away.

I am a #1 New York Times Best-Selling author of young adult fiction. My husband and I have four children and live in Glendale, Arizona. Further information, including a calendar of events, is available at my official website.